Taylor Swift shilling for the PTB?

Did you know that Bob Dylan‘s real name is a very german one?:

Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota. His original name was Robert Allen Zimmerman and his grandparents were Jewish immigrants from present-day Ukraine and Lithuania.

As far as I know you can find similar things with quite a number of famous people, companies, inventions etc. In many areas, not only in America: A pretty clear/strong german background.

I think in Bob‘s case and quite a number of others they at one point decided that an American sounding name makes them easier to remember in places like America.
 
I will have to watch the whole thing again (in context) but when I researched it back then (and watched the full thing from a reliable source) it was quite clear to me that Dylan was/is a religious man and that he was talking about god there.

Here is the whole 60 MInutes interview with Dylan.


Watched it again. Confirmed, Bob Dylan talked about god.
 
I will have to watch the whole thing again (in context) but when I researched it back then (and watched the full thing from a reliable source) it was quite clear to me that Dylan was/is a religious man and that he was talking about god there.
He went through his 'fundie' phase, but he saw something amiss in Christianity, it's subtle, but the change can be seen if one is very familiar with his work.
 
I will have to watch the whole thing again (in context) but when I researched it back then (and watched the full thing from a reliable source) it was quite clear to me that Dylan was/is a religious man and that he was talking about god there.

Yes, this is correct. Dylan went through a religious phase in the late 70s, releasing a trio of gospel albums. He returned to his more familiar rock-based idiom in the early 1980s, but according to several interviews over the years seems to have held on to his Christian beliefs.

Bob Dylan opened up about his faith in a new interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The conversation began when the interviewer asked Dylan what he does these days to relax, and the legendary musician shared he often turns to his faith.

“I’m a religious person. I read the Scriptures a lot, meditate and pray, light candles in church. I believe in damnation and salvation, as well as predestination. The Five Books of Moses, Pauline Epistles, Invocation of the Saints, all of it,” Dylan said.

And in 2009 when Dylan put out a Christmas album called Christmas in the Heart. This is from the interview he did to promote the album:

BILL FLANAGAN: You really give a heroic performance of "O Little Town Of Bethlehem." The way you do it reminds me a little of an Irish rebel song. There's something almost defiant in the way you sing, "The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight." I don't want to put you on the spot, but you sure deliver that song like a true believer.
BOB DYLAN: Well, I am a true believer.
 
Greatest album of all time, in my humble opinion.

That's an audacious but convincing shout. Almost all of that album is superb. It's so rare to have a vein of form where almost all you come up with is classics. I actually think his body of solo work is worth revisiting more than his work with the Chilis, and I love that band. In his solo work he goes deep exploring what he has discovered in life, and most importantly he makes it inviting and interesting. Like you say, a wonderful artist who doesn't get his fair dues for his contributions. There's no-one around today rivalling "The Empyrean", without question.

"Physical Graffiti" by Led Zeppelin is still my no. 1 album, but this is also a strong record, he helped redefine what was possible in a rock format. And lyrically he is underrated, he tackles heavy subjects with a subtle hand. I have about a half dozen tunes in my head just convincing me of your point of view!:lol:. God bless the funky innovators, they enrich my soul every day.
 
Maybe the character of the musicians themselves and/or what they are channeling is somehow sensed by people and that can have a lot to do with how we experience a piece of music
I don't know the ideal words to describe it, but there is indeed a present energy in older music, a higher vibration. It's like the difference between the old Star Wars movies and the newer ones. There is a difference in information that goes beyond what can easily be explained by loudness, complexity, tempo (or plot, dialogue) etc.

It's not like rock/pop stars of previous eras where titans of character and morals, but they were certainly able to channel something that now more and more seems 'frequency-fenced' off for the majority of people.
 
Last edited:
This is kind of a fluff article from Newsweek about a little girl explaining why Taylor Swift is a good role model for girls like her/(all girls).
Basically, Swift is a good role model because:

You don't have to be married and have kids to be a good role model. To be a good role model, you have to be kind, sweet, generous and smart. And you have to give girls a feeling like they have power—girl power—and that we can make our own decisions. A good role model makes you feel like you're powerful, and that you have to use your power to be kind and generous.

That's what Taylor Swift does: Taylor Swift is girl power. And she is kind. And because she is both, she makes us feel like we can be both. And that's a very good thing!

That is what I think makes Taylor Swift so special: She is a nice person and she is a good singer. She's a good musician who writes good songs people love to sing over and over, and she helps people by donating money. She gives money to food pantries in all the cities she visits. She gives huge bonuses to the people who work for her. She donates so much money to the needy. I admire that. That is a role model.
"You don't have to be married and have kids to be a good role model" is heard a lot these days. It's understood as almost a given fact. The subtext here is that marriage is oppressive to women, difficult, and painful. It's almost like marriage/children are 'life hazards' that can be avoided if one pursues a 'self-actualizing' and empowering career. There are more women than men finishing degrees now, and women are starting to make more than men as well. Being childless and unmarried now may have some built-in benefits in this (dysfunctional) society, but I imagine there will be a lot of bitter old spinsters in the future. I think it's sad that the propagandists have had at this young girl already, that's all.

 
This is kind of a fluff article from Newsweek about a little girl explaining why Taylor Swift is a good role model for girls like her/(all girls).
Basically, Swift is a good role model because:


"You don't have to be married and have kids to be a good role model" is heard a lot these days. It's understood as almost a given fact. The subtext here is that marriage is oppressive to women, difficult, and painful. It's almost like marriage/children are 'life hazards' that can be avoided if one pursues a 'self-actualizing' and empowering career. There are more women than men finishing degrees now, and women are starting to make more than men as well. Being childless and unmarried now may have some built-in benefits in this (dysfunctional) society, but I imagine there will be a lot of bitter old spinsters in the future. I think it's sad that the propagandists have had at this young girl already, that's all.

Not sure it's really fair to say that when divorce rate and childcare cost are extremely high and cost of living is also increasing. In addition,
you have an increasing number of boys/ men who despite having the same opportunities as girls in their age group choose to not pursue education/ job seriously which result in them now earning (sometimes way) less than their girlfriend/ wife and feeling extremely insecure about it, and instead of being serious and working harder, they prefer to bash women/ society (hence, the rise of grifters such as Andrew Tate).

The fact that women have become more career-oriented and are earning more and getting bigger jobs, but by contrast men are in a downward curve is bound to have social ramifications, such as a decrease for women to desire getting married or have children (especially if it's going to be to someone who earn way less and perhaps also is way less ambitious and hence, they would essentially be the "provider". It's just not an attractive position to be in.).

The only thing that is disturbing to me is that a 7-year-old really shouldn't be listening to Taylor Swift or take her as a role model because although Taylor's music is rather fluffy, it's still adult and Taylor herself is an adult. That's a bit weird to me.
 
I don't know the ideal words to describe it, but there is indeed a present energy in older music, a higher vibration. It's like the difference between the old Star Wars movies and the newer ones. There is a difference in information that goes beyond what can easily be explained by loudness, complexity, tempo (or plot, dialogue) etc.

It's not like rock/pop stars of previous eras where titans of character and morals, but they were certainly able to channel something that now more and more seems 'frequency-fenced' off for the majority of people.

I fully agree. Generally speaking, before let's say the early two thousands, music in general, seemed to be deeper, or if you will, more soulful. After that, music in general, has gotten worse and worse, IMO. It is probably not a coincidence that it went downhill after 9/11 and the start of the explosion of the Internet, the cellphone and especially social media.

From the "What happened to (popular) music?" thread:

A new Beato summary on why music is getting worse. Good points I think. The summary is as follows:

„In this episode, I discuss the crisis in music in two acts:
Act I - Music is too Easy to Make
Act II - Music is too Easy to Consume
...and their cumulative negative effect.“


Beato has published a follow-up video, after people complained that "he is just an old guy, not understanding new music" and more such "points":


I 100% agree with what he is saying. By the way, I'm not an old guy, but I see the same things he is seeing. I'm open to pretty much all genres of music, and never was the type of guy who would say that such and such a genre is necessarily bad or that I would not listen to something from that genre just because it is in that genre. I like many music styles/genres, and I don't agree that popular music has to be below or bad compared to others. Not at all. I happen to like a lot of popular music, but usually those were pretty much all songs that were written/performed/recorded before the early two thousands (with the exception of Willow now, which I wouldn't even call popular though). That is a very noticeable thing IMO, in general.
 
The only thing that is disturbing to me is that a 7-year-old really shouldn't be listening to Taylor Swift or take her as a role model because although Taylor's music is rather fluffy, it's still adult and Taylor herself is an adult. That's a bit weird to me.
Is the little girl perfectly justified in thinking that marriage and family should be avoided? It is certainly more difficult than ever. Perhaps someone should explain to her that children and family are treasures of great value.
 
Is the little girl perfectly justified in thinking that marriage and family should be avoided? It is certainly more difficult than ever. Perhaps someone should explain to her that children and family are treasures of great value.
tbh, it doesn't make sense to me to talk about marriage, children, or family to someone who's literally a child. The focus should be on building their character and personality and ensuring that they're well-behaved and growing into a decent person. Also, while children and family can be treasure, they can be great source of pain, especially marriage as mentioned in my earlier. Asides, from this, you can't have an honest discussion about this if you're also not talking about modern realities, and the fact that the way women are advancing in their career and society as a whole is putting a lot of thing in questions (though generally speaking, I think most people still want marriage and family of some sort, but other things have become equally important).

Anyway, when looking at the article, I'm thinking that it's kinda fake. A child wouldn't think in the way presented in the article. And if you look at the end, it's written that the child's mother is director of audience at Newsweek. This tells me that the mom is a fan of Taylor Swift for the reasons listed in the article and she wants her daughter to embrace certain values. It's telling that it's written that the child "wants" to be a scientist. No, her mom wants her to be a scientist and wants her to be very independent with a successful career in something where women are still underrepresented, which imo are legitimate desires as a parent. She's just being weird.
 
Back
Top Bottom